England’s over 50s spending more on ‘basics’

The amount
that people over 50 in England spend on life’s basics – food, fuel and clothing
– has increased significantly in the last 4-5 years, with the poorest being the
most affected, according to the latest results from the English Longitudinal
Study of Aging (ELSA).

A quarter
of households experienced a 10 percentage point or more increase in the share of
their income devoted to basics between 2004/5 and 2008/9, and spending on domestic fuel alone rose by
over a third in real terms over this period.

The study
also looked at the health and lifestyles of this age group, with the latest
results showing a rise in sedentary behaviour and marked increases in waist
size and weight since the last results were collected. Key health indicators
such as obesity, fruit and vegetable intake and low physical exercise were
closely linked to social status. For the first time, the researchers examined
certain biological measures that appear to be health protective and found
evidence to support the theory that biological ageing is slower in people in
better socioeconomic circumstances.

ELSA is the
most comprehensive study into the economic, social, psychological and health
elements of the ageing process in Europe, painting a detailed picture of the
lives of people in England
aged 50 and over. Participants are interviewed every two years by the National
Centre for Social Research, with 10,860 people being interviewed for the fourth
wave of the study in 2008/9. A report based on the latest data, ‘Financial
Circumstances, Health and Well-Being of the Older Population in England’, is published today.

ELSA’s
Principal Investigator, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, UCL Epidemiology & Public Health, commented:
“Food and fuel make up a considerable proportion of elderly peoples’ budgets so
any price increases tend to have a significant effect on those households. Spending
on basics as a percentage of income can be used as a yardstick for welfare and
the report shows that the poorest fifth of the population were 17 percentage
points more likely to experience a substantial increase in the share of their
income devoted to basics over this period than the richest fifth of the
population.

“We also found a clear social gradient in
several health indicators with less wealthy people having higher levels of
obesity, lower levels of physical exercise, higher levels of smoking, lower
fruit and vegetable intake and being more likely to suffer from hypertension
and diabetes. A striking new finding is that the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone
sulfate (DHEAS) that predicts life expectancy also follows a social
gradient: less wealth, lower levels of DHEAS.”

The latest
findings starkly outline the link between social status and health. For
example, the proportion of obese women from the poorest fifth of the population
was 43 per cent, compared with only 28 per cent in the wealthiest fifth – the
corresponding figures for men are 34 per cent and 23 per cent. Only 39 per cent
of men and 42 per cent of women in the poorest fifth of the population reach
the daily recommended intake of fruit and vegetables (five portions a day),
compared with 61 per cent of men and 66
per cent of women in the wealthiest fifth.

ELSA is jointly run by UCL, The Institute for
Fiscal Studies (IFS) and NatCen.

UCL context

UCL Epidemiology & Public Health is a multi-disciplinary department
that aims to develop a better understanding of health and prevention of
ill health through vigorous research and the development of research
methodology. This knowledge is applied via undergraduate and graduate
teaching, contributions to national and international health policy and
contributions to the wider public understanding on health.